Telling it like it isn’t (but should be)

Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

Hang on people, because this week’s Follow Friday spotlight is BRIGHT and this makes my deva heart sing. You DO know I’m all about having people shine, don’t you?

So why do I follow Marian Schembari (a.k.a. Marian Librarian)?

Let me count the ways:

• She created controversy by asking her network for support
• She generates book buzz for authors, resulting in more books being sold (and that’s always a good thing!)
• She calls herself a social media thug because the word consulting? Is boring.
• She teaches how to get a job in…wait for it…your pajamas!
• AND she is one of the most down-to-earth, direct people I’ve come across in social media (seriously, she’ll tell you why no one’s following you! just ask)

She’s bold and beautiful, and holy crap – only 23 years old and here in all her shining glory!

1. Why are you here?
Well, I’m online because I like to help people use social media the smart way. I started off blogging and it’s turned into this business that I’d never thought I’d run at 23.

2. What is your future self calling for?
I wish I knew! I really enjoy working for myself and can’t imagine any other career option now that I’m doing it. That said, I’m not a huge fan of sitting in front of my computer all day and I’d secretly like to own my own bakery. I have no idea how far down the line that dream is, but it’s there regardless.

3. How do you honor that calling?
I bake. A lot. It’s one of my all time favorite things to do and at the end of a long day when I’m sick-to-freaking-death of Twitter I de-stress by baking a cake or cooking a proper dinner (I made some sweet potato and black bean stew last night – yum!). Something about creating something with my hands and not staring at a screen or typing or tweeting really helps me feel more like myself and less like a social media cog.

Something that I should do more of but don’t because it’s a giant pain in the ass is hiking. I love everything about nature – it heals me in a way that nothing else can. Problem is, I live in a part of London that’s miles away from any forest or even a pleasant park to wander in. To get anywhere worth spending more than 10 minutes in would take about 45 minutes and I can never seem to justify taking that time off every day. Maybe I should start aiming for a short nature walk every week to center myself a little.

4. What is both effortless and life-giving to you?
Social media is pretty effortless to me. The second I started using it for networking and professional reasons it just made sense, I’m not sure why. Something about connecting with people in a way that’s non-intimidating is so easy for me. I’m naturally an opinionated and chatty person, but groups freak me out, so in-person networking events have never been my cup of tea. The distance that social media provides and the small amount of anonymity made it easy to suddenly get close to people minus geography and suddenly I’m more open on the web that I’ve ever been in person. It’s brilliant!

I’m not sure about life-giving though – I don’t think those two necessarily have to go together. Cooking and creating things (I’m crafty, what can I say?) is life-giving, almost literally actually, but I’m not the best. But it’s kind of like Gary Vaynerchuk says – you don’t necessarily have to be the best at something, you just need to be crazy passionate about it.

5. What do you do better than anyone else?
See above – I’m pretty awesome at using social media and even more awesome at getting people excited to use it.

6. What is extraordinary about your work and/or life?
My greatest source of pride is the fact that I’m so young. At 23, my peers are either looking for work or in entry-level positions. Which is exactly where I thought I’d be. A year ago I was a recent college grad waiting for something to happen. When something finally did happen (a dead-end job in PR), I wasn’t satisfied. I always assumed I’d end up some successful business woman… but in a real job. With a pantsuit (really Marian, a pantsuit?) And briefcase. And health insurance. I had no idea how happy I’d be freelancing. Who knew security wasn’t my thing?

7. What is guaranteed to inspire you?
Nature all the way. I spent last weekend camping with some friends and I broke off from the group for a few hours and found myself in this deserted estate. I just walked around taking photos, came across some baby deer, took a nap under a giant tree. It was the most alive and happy I’ve been in ages.

8. What would your epitaph say if you lived life on your terms?
Eek! This question is scary and I honestly have no clue. I want to be known for living a life that’s FULL. I want adventure, and lots of different careers and experiences and travels and friends. I don’t need to be impressive in a traditional way, I don’t need to compare myself to anyone else – I just want to be ME, ya know? Ugh, CORNY ALERT! Apologies, I’m smack in the middle of my Quarterlife Crisis and have no idea how to deal.

Marian, 23, is a blogger, technically a social media thug (consultant is a boring word) and has a bad case of the Quarterlife Crisis. She’s got the travel itch too and moved from New York to London, and headed to New Zealand in December. As much as she hates to admit it, her posts at marianlibrarian.com are usually about social media and the freelance life. When not blogging about blogging she helps people rock out on Twitter (but also secretly wants to be a pastry chef slash author slash farmer in the woods).

For a reminder of how this series came to be, read Follow You, Follow Me.